Safety attachment for gas-burners.



S. H. BLUDGETT.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR GAS BURNERS.

(Application filed June 24, 1901.)

T No. 705,315. Patented July 22, I902.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

STEPHEN I-I. BLODGETT, OF LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR-GAS-BURNERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 705,315, dated July 22,1902. Application filed June 24,1901. Serial No. 65,756. (No model.)

To opZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN H. BLODGETT, a citizen of the United'States,residing in Lincoln, in the county of Middlesex and State of-Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Safety AttachmentsforGas-Burners, of which the following descriptionfln connection withthe accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on thedrawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to a safety attachment for gas-burners, and hasfor its object to provide a simple, cheap, and efficient'device which isrendered effective to automatically close'the valve or cock controllingthe flow of gas to the burner-tip in case the flow of gas is interruptedaccidentally or otherwise and which permits the said valve to beoperated independent of the said automatic device to wholly or partiallyshut off the gas. These and other features of this invention will bepointed out in the claims atthe end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a gas-burner provided with a safetyattachment embodying this invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation of theburner shown in Fig. 1, with part broken away; Fig. 3, a front elevationof the burner with the protecting-cap removed and showing the device inits initial operative and inoperative positions; Fig. 4, a detail inelevation showing the devicein its initial operative position; Fig. 5, aside elevation of the burner with the device in its operative position;Fig. 6, a section on the line 6 6, Fig.3; Figs. 7 and 8, front and sideelevations to be referred to; and Fig. 9, a sectional detail on the line9 9, Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the gas-burner 0;, provided with the cock orvalve 1) and tip 0, is and may be of any suitable or usual construction.The valve Z) is adapted 'to be turned, as herein shown, by means of asegmental gear oZ, fast on a shaft 6, having bear-' ings in a bracket orarm f, attached to the burner a, the said gear meshing with a segmentalgear 9, secured to the valve Z) to rotate therewith. The shaft e may beprovided with a handle h, detachably secured thereto by a nut c'.

The valve 22 has loose on it a sleeve j, (see Fig. 6,) provided with acrank or arm k, adapted to be engaged by a pin or projection Z on thesegmental gear g to move said arm and its sleeve from the normal orstarting p0sition (shown'in Fig. 3) to the position shown by dottedlinesin said figure and by full lines, Fig. 4.

The sleeve j and'its attached arm are moved in the opposite direction,when permitted so to do, by a spiral spring m, one end of which isattached to said sleeve and the other end to astationary support, shownas a pin to, projecting from the bracket or arm f. The arm constitutesan actuating device by which the valve or cock I) may be turned into itsclosed position. (Shown in Fig. 6.) This actuating device is governed inits operation by means of a holding device, which is governed in itsoperation by a thermostat. The holding device herein shown consists of asubstantially vertical lever 10, mounted on a pivot pin or shaft 12,supported by lugs or ears 13 on a frame 14, attached to the burner, andin the present instance the said frame is provided with a lug 15, havingan opening which permits it to be slipped over the burner a andadjustably secured thereto by a setscrew 16.

The frame 14 has soldered or otherwise secured to it a flexiblediaphragm 17, forming with said frame a chamber which is adapted tocontain a volatile medium, such as naphtha, ether, 850., which may beadmitted through a suitable opening, which is closed by a cap or plug18. The frame may have attached to it a heat conducting arm 19,which mayproject over the mouth of the burner-tip c, as herein shown, or said armrnay be ornitted; but I prefer to use the heat-conducting arm, as thethermostat is rendered more sensitive.

The lever 10 is provided at its lower end, as herein shown, with twoholding arms or catches 2O 21, preferably provided, as shown, withopposing beveled inner faces 22 23and substantially straight outerfaces, the said arms being out of linewith each other, as shown in Fig.5, for a purpose as will be described.

In operation, with the valve closed and the flow of gas to theburner-tip interrupted, the arm 70 occupies the position indicated byfull lines in Fig. 3, while the valve 6 occupies sub stantially theposition indicated in Fig. 6. If it is desired to light the gas, theoperator turns the handle it in the direction indicated by the arrow 40,Fig. 6, which movement turns the valve I) in the direction indicated bythe arrow 41, Fig. 3, so as to bring the port or passage 42 into linewith the gas-supply opening 43 in the burner. As the segmental gcar g ismoved in the direction indicated by the arrow 41, the arm is moved inthe same direction by means of the pin or projection Z. As the arm 7.;is thus moved it passes by the catch or locking-finger 20 and engagesthe beveled face 23 of the second locking-finger 21, thereby moving thelower end of the lever 10 outward or to the right (viewing Fig. 3) untilthe arm It has been moved beyond and out of engagement with the saidlever, whereupon the said lever will be restored to its normal positionby means of the spring 45, attached at one end to the lever 10 andhaving its other end bearing against the inner face of the cap or cover46, as shown in Fig. 2. The movement of the valve in the directionindicated by the arrow 41 is limited by a stop or projection 47 on theunder side of the bracket or arm f, being engaged by one wall of a slotin a disk 48, attached to the shaft 0. hen the lever 10 is restored toits normal position after the arm is has been carried beyond it, theoperator may release the operatinghandle, and the valve will be heldfrom closing by the engagement of the said arm with the fiat or smoothface of the holding-finger 21, as represented in Figs. 4 and 5. Vhen insuch position, the gas has been fully turned on and may be ignited atthe burner-tip. As soon as the gas is ignited the heat from the flameacts on the thermostat, which effects movement of the lever 10 towardthe right (viewing Fig. 5) against the pressure of the spring 45. As thelever 10 is moved toward the right the holding arm or finger 21 isremoved from engagement with the spring-actuated arm 7c, and the latteris then moved a short distance by its spring into engagement with thebeveled face 22 of the holding finger or arm 20 and is prevented fromfurther movement by reason of the fact that the lever is held frommoving toward the left (viewing Fig. 8) by the thermostat, which at suchtime has imparted to it substantially its maximum movement. This bringsthe arm 70 into the position represented in Figs. 7 and 8, and itremains in this position while the burner remains lighted. If for anyreason the flow of gas to the burner should be interrupted or the flameextinguished, the thermostat contracts, allowing the spring 45 to movethe lever 10 toward the left, (viewing Fig. 5,)which movement isassisted by the spring m, acting on the arm 70, which latter passes overthe inclined or beveled face 22 of the holding arm or finger 20, thusforcing the lever 10 back to its normal position and permitting the armto be restored by its spring to its normal position. (Shown by fulllines in Fig. 3.) As the arm 7a is moved to its normal position itcarries with it the valve 1) by reason of its engagement with the pin land moves the said valve into its closed position, as represented inFig. 6.

By reason of the fact that the arm 70 is loose on the valve the lattermay be turned to completely or partially shut olf the flow of gaswithout movement of the arm, so that after the gas has been lighted andthe arm k is brought into what may be termed its active position(represented in Fig. 7) the operator, if he so desires, can turn down orcompletely shut off the flow of gas by rotating the handle so as tobring the valve into its closed position, (represented in Fig. 6,) whichposition is determined by the opposite wall of the slot in the disk 48engaging the pin 47.

With the apparatus herein shown it is to be noted that the safety deviceis placed in active or operative position and condition when the gas isturned on and ignited and that the said device remains in its operativeposition and is out of the influence of the valve, so that the lattercan be positively turned to partially or completely shut off the supplyof gas, and when the gas is completely shut off and the thermostatrestored to its normal position the valve-actuating device becomesactive and is restored to its normal or starting position. The cap 46may be fastened, as by screws 49, to lugs 50, projecting from the frame14, and is so shaped as to cover the arm 70, the lever 10, and thethermostat, and thus protect these parts from accidental derangement.

I claim- 1. The combination with a gas-burner provided with a valvecontrolling the flow of gas, of an arm loosely mounted on said valve,means to turn said valve in one direction and move said arm, athermostat, a lever operated by said thermostat and provided withholding-fingers, one of which acts to hold said arm from closing thevalve while the gas is being lighted and the other of which engages saidarm after it is released from the first-mentioned finger and holds thesaid arm from closing the valve while the gas remains lighted, means torelease said arm from said second finger when the gas-flame isextinguished, and means to return said arm to its normal position,substantially as described.

2. The combination with a gas-burner provided with a valve controllingthe flow of the gas, of an arm loosely mounted on said valve, means toturn said valve in one direction and move said arm, a thermostat, alever operatcd by said thermostat and moved into engaging position withsaid arm to hold the latter from returning to its normal position untilreleased, means to disengage said lever from said arm when the gas-flameis extinguished, and means to return said arm to its normal position,substantially as described.

3. The combination with a gas-burner provided with a valve controllingthe flow of gas from said burner, of means for automatically closingsaid valve, comprising a thermostat, a valve-actuating deviceoperatively connected with said valve to move therewith in one directionwhen the valve is opened and to permit said valve to be moved in theopposite direction without corresponding movement of said actuatingdevice, and means cooperating with said thermostat and with saidvalveactnating device to hold said device while the gas is being lightedand to release said device and again engage it when the gas is lighted,

5. The combination with a gas-burner provided with a valve forcontrolling the flow of gas, of an arm loose on said valve, means toturn said valve in one direction and move said arm, a thermostat, asubstantially vertical lever pivoted at its upper end and acted upon bysaid thermostat to move the lower end of said lever into engagingposition ,with the said arm, substantially as described.

6. A gas-burner having in combination a valve, a pin Z on said valve, anarm 76 cooperating with said pin, a spring m to move said arm in adirection to close said valve, a lever 10 cooperating with said arm tohold it against the action of said spring, and a thermostat controllingthe movements of said lever and efiecting the disengagement of the saidlever from said arm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

STEPHEN H. BLODGETT. Witnesses:

JAs. H. CHURCHILL, J. MURPHY.

